The Lost Tales: A role-playing Crossover Story
by IzzyIzumi
Summary: This crossover roleplay is brought to you by Digichat and Company (more details inside) So please read and review, but read ahead at your own risk for your sanity! Thanks, and come back soon--more will be added!


What you are about to read is highly confidential. This story was derived from a role-play, which is where Internet chatters act as their favorite television characters. We do not claim to have come up with these characters, nor do we claim to own them. We simply act as them, and many of us are so much like them in real life as well. Read ahead at your own risk. We are courteously inviting you into our minds, to see our daily thoughts, dreams, hopes and nightmares. This story is brought to you by Digichat and Company...  
  
We're the digidestined, and we're proud of it! What, a childish anime show, you say? I think not! We're the future of the world so live with it! Eh? Kt: Pops in "Eh, you say?"  
  
Please be kind read to the end, and after that if you care to do a review on this. Without further a due (*shouts from the background* Izzy stop rambling!) I hereby bring to you...the one...the only...  
  
0x08 graphic  
We're the digidestined, and we're proud of it. What, a childish anime show you say? I think not!! We're the future of the world so live with it! EH? Kt: *pops in* EH you  
  
A Collection of Role-Plays from Digichat and Company  
  
Written by: Katie St. Clair (as Katie)  
  
Lauren Childerhose (as TK)  
  
Jamie Belisle (as Maura and Izzy)  
  
Maura, after seeing that a meal was made, walked gracefully into the bedroom that TK had chosen to sleep in. Upon entering, and not knowing better she leaned over him, brushing back his hair in a friendly manner, lightly kissing him and whispers in his ear. "Hey TK, wake up sleepyhead," she says just a brightly, a gentle smile on her face.  
  
TK yawns and opens his eyes, holding back a cry of surprise. Smiling cheerfully back, and at her maintaining the urge to laugh, he responds, "Hi Maura." As he does so, TK sits up and yawns once more. "What's up?" he adds.  
  
"The food's ready, that's all. C'mon, if you're hungry!" Maura exclaimed, still in her cheerful voice. She began to giggle in a surprisingly girlish manner, then she at his hand for him to follow. "Your friends had to go home...so I decided just to let you sleep until the food was ready," she states, just in case he might be alarmed at the realization that his friends were not at her house any longer. She smiles gently at him, waiting for him to follow.  
  
TK gave her an embarrassed smile, due to her manner, but doesn't comment on it. "Food? Great!" he said, and almost on cue his stomach grumbles. "I haven't eaten any real food in a long time." With that he follows his new friend obediently.  
  
She smiled gently at him, and continued leading him into her grand kitchen, revealing a table with a plate on it, full of random foods, including delicious smelling desserts. In awe of all the food to choose from, TK's eyes sparkle. "Wow," he breathed, losing his casual composure. "All this? How many people are you serving?" He looks in awe at the vast array of desserts, licking his lips as he does so.  
  
Giggling, Maura states back, "Just you. I've something in plan for us later, so eat all you can now. You won't be eating again for a while."  
  
Grinning in his manner, and laughing, he says, "Really? Alright then." Grabbing a plate, and although he hopes he doesn't wish to appear too greedy since he'd missed so many good meals...and all of the food looked delicious...that his plate was soon covered with a towering pile of delicacies. Sliding into a nearby chair, he quickly begins scarfing down his food, after randomly choosing one of the six forks set out on the table.  
  
Maura watched him eat in pleased silence, remembering how it was to be carefree, waiting until he completed his meal before she begins telling part of her history. Washing his meal down with a drink, he sighed happily. Content with just sitting for a while, he wondered where to put his dishes since there seemed to be no sink in sight. Noticing him finishing, she barely even moves when a servant hurries to take the dish away, clearing the table before their eyes quickly. Then giving TK a wistful smile, she says: "Make yourself comfortable. I've part of my history to share with you, and it might be a while."  
  
He blinked before sheepishly remembering that Maura had many servants on hand. Smiling back and stretching, he responds, "Alright, I'm comfortable, don't worry, I like listening to stories."  
  
Beginning her tale, she speaks with a quiet tone. "It started when I was two. My father first began to train me in the martial arts, and my mother engaged me in knowledge. Later, after realizing that I can handle the art quickly, my father started training me in the ways of energy. She fades slowly, pausing momentarily to look at him closely through narrowed eyes. "That was the energy I used to defeat your evil companions, TK."  
  
Nodding, TK looks back at her, already becoming submersed in the story. "It was really cool, whatever it was..."  
  
"Yes. After I began to fully understand the art of using energy as a tool, rather than just martial arts, my parents took a vacation. This was when I was only 7. I only found out that their vacation was to the digital world...after a terrible accident caused their death." Her voice grows gradually softer at the memory of the awful incident, having a temporary flashback. Shaking her head she clears the thoughts, continuing softly. "After their death, I moved in with my grandparents. My grandfather, also a master of the art, trained me the rest of the way...now I own a third degree black belt. And...my goal, is to train you as I have been trained, so that you can defeat your enemies..."  
  
He looks at her now with a heightened sense of respect, for she had gone through a lot at a very early age. He smiles back encouragingly. "Wow, you must be really talented to have learned all those techniques." Pausing, he sighs only slightly* "And I really appreciate you trying to help me out, but, I have to ask, do you really think I'm up for it?" He looks away, a bit ashamed*  
  
I mean, I've mainly gotten through life on my luck..."  
  
Smiling sincerely now, looking older than earlier, Maura tells him the truth as she sees it. "Yes, I have a feeling that you can do great things if you wished to do so. Besides, you would have the right motive...you seemed angered enough at the thought of evil, that I believe something happened in your childhood as well. Perhaps not as devastating as mine, but something of maybe equal importance to you."  
  
He nods in admission. "Yeah, something did happen when I was younger. Besides the whole ordeal of my misadventures with the rest of my digidestined friends, when I was really young, my mother and father split up. I went to live with my mom, but my older brother Matt, he went off to live with dad. Ever since then, I've always wished that somehow my parents could get back together, and I could kind of regain a bunch of time with Matt that I never had...  
  
And with my dad as well, they're both great an' all, but since we lived in different cities, we just grew further and further apart over the years."  
  
Smiling gently, she looks at him now, sighing. "Perhaps I know how you feel. Losing my parents at such a young age, I hardly got to know them. I think they knew something was going to happen, because they pampered me in my youth and spent as much time with me as possible. Looking down, she takes a breath, then grins. "So...are you ready for your first day of training, TK?"  
  
*Smiling back, he gets quickly to his feet, eager to get out of the subdued mood that had been brought upon him with the retelling of part of his past. He waits anxiously, eager for the training to begin. "So, what's next? Or, first I should say," he adds with a laugh.  
  
*Taking his hand again, she leads him into a room that appears to be a rather large gym with blue mats covering the floor. "I begin to train you...first with the basics, later with the energy controlling. When I'm done with you, you'll have no trouble at all with your evil enemies." Falling into an easy fighting stance, she glances at TK out of the corner of her blue eyes. "Try to attack me," she orders in an abrupt tone.  
  
He nods happily at the statement about not having to fear being held captive by psychos anymore, then pauses. "Attack you? Alright, then..." He tries to reflect her stance, then quickly throws a punch at her.  
  
Then grabbing his wrist none to gently, she trips him after quickly and gracefully sliding to the ground. "Not fast enough!" Regaining her stance, she smiles eagerly, waiting for him to try again.  
  
He laughs in sudden surprise, at both the strength of her grip and finding himself on the ground. He gets to his feet once more. This time, he fakes a punch, before throwing a kick at her. Grinning at his attempt, she manages to grab his foot, throwing him.....though trying to be gentle....to the ground.  
  
Bracing his fall with his hands, and rolling out of her grasp, he gets to a crouching position, trying a sweeping kick to trip her from behind. Struggling for a brief moment, telling herself not to use her energies at this stage, she leaps up as high as she can...and normally would have aimed a high kick at his head, but since she didn't wish to kill him or seriously hurt TK, she resumed her stance, not even breathing hard at all.  
  
He gets to his feet, now grinning and unable to help commenting: "Wow, you're really good at this!" Having a sudden sneaky idea, he throws his next punch just after he ends his sentence, aiming to catch her off-guard.  
  
As she had paused, her eyes had been watching him closely, and catching his punch with her fist, she nods in approval. "And you...are catching on very quickly."  
  
He smiles at the praise and pauses before trying his next attack. "Thanks, coming from you, that means a lot." He mentally notes to himself to get used to (and begin learning how to ignore) pain.  
  
She nods gently, giving him a swift smile. "Would you care for a few moments of rest? I've more in mind to learn today. You seem to know the basics well enough. Perhaps I'll move it a step up."  
  
Agreeing quickly, he complies to her question. "All right." He sits down on the padded floor, not caring about where he rests, and smiles to himself at the fact that he seems to be good at something.  
  
After about 10 minutes, she glances over, smiling still. "Care to continue?" She stands up gracefully, looking down on him eagerly.  
  
He nods and stands up once more. "Sure!"  
  
" I want to see what you'll do if I did this..." She suddenly shoots a strange energy out of her hands, it heads toward TK at a rapid, unnatural speed. His eyes widen in surprise and he quickly uses a combination of duck and roll to dodge it. Chuckles, she states: "I'll teach you how I did it, then you'll see how I handle that. Teaches him how to gather his energy inside of him to be able to use it as a fighting technique.  
  
Glancing warily at TK, she asks abruptly before continuing their training process. "Need a rest?" Hoping that he would say no, she waited patiently as she floated lightly and easily in the air.  
  
Although normally, after such a training session, he would have been exhausted, however, perhaps by excitement or a stamina that had come with learning new skills, he was eager and ready to continue. A wide grin crosses his face. "Rest? Nope, only if you need to."  
  
Smiling, she thinks briefly that he might be able to take on a bit more, then she nods firmly. "Carrying on then," was the only warning that she had given him before launching a strange type of energy blast towards him, wanting to see how he would react to those. Grinning back, she waited to see the results. Reacting instantly to her latest attack, he begins trying to gather his internal energy once more. However, during one of the last seconds remaining before the possible impact of his energy shield and the energy discs, he seems to realize that either for lack of experience or some other aspect, his shield would not be able to withstand the power contained in her attack so instead, he converts the energy he was storing for a shield, into energy of movement, easily flying out of the way of the attack. As soon as he was clear, he hovered for a while and took a deep breath, rebalancing himself.  
  
She lets out a slow whistle of amazement as his quick response* "Impressive, truly. My goal, in fact, is to get it so that you can predict my attacks before they come. Later I'll teach you the energy attacks, after you've mastered fighting in the air." Smiling, she looked at her watch--now nearly 10, and nodded. "Thats enough for now, I believe. Unless you want to go on?"  
  
He beams at her compliment, then cocks his head to the side and shrugs. "It doesn't matter to me." His tiredness is being held at bay for the moment, however, possibly only because he doesn't know what time it is.  
  
Softly landed gracefully on the mats, she looks up at him, waiting for his return to the ground. "Very well. We've done enough for today, it seems, and you're progressing quickly. I'll be getting up bright and early if you want to train some in the morning. But that, of course, is up to you." She smiles at him then, almost predicting that he would say no, although part of her hoped he'd say yes.  
  
Following her down to the floor, he lands on the mats, obviously a bit more used to dropping from the ground now. Considering her offer, he smiles a bit sheepishly. "Bright and early? Do I look like a bright and early kind of person?" He laughs, "But, if you'd like me too, I'll be ready as soon as you are."  
  
Nods, laughing slightly as well. "It would be a great surprise if you actually woke me up, TK, truthfully. It would show discipline, and dedication, I guess." She starts to walk out of the training room, waiting for him to follow as well.  
  
He follows her out of the room, running over her words in his head. "Discipline and dedication? Well, maybe I -will- try to get up at an inhuman hour tomorrow then. Because, discipline and dedication are good things, right?" He briefly thinks to himself.  
  
Turning to him, she says gently. "Well I hope to see you early in the morning!" Giving him a brief kiss goodnight, heedless of what he might feel about her doing it, she then walks off to her own room, shutting her door behind her. Blushing profusely after having forgotten about her apparent mandatory displays of affection, he stands there in the hallway for a minute, before shaking his head and walking off to his own room with a yawn. His need for sleep had definitely caught up with him now, and he was out almost before getting into bed.*  
  
---------MORNING---------  
  
Waking before dawn, however, in hopes that TK had took heed to her own words, she remained in bed, slowly going back to sleep. Grinning to himself, he finishes off the remains of his own breakfast in the kitchen, before thanking one of Maura's servants, and -being careful to keep his hands steady- walking down the hallway to where Maura slept, balancing a tray of various breakfast items for her to choose from. Remaining asleep in her room, purposefully having drifted off again, she almost senses the sound of him walking down the hallway...but yet still keeps her eyes closed.  
  
Opening the door skillfully without using his hands, he walks in as quietly as he can. Setting the tray down on a bedside table he makes his way over to the window, drawing the curtains even though not much light was available to come through anyway. Sighing with amazement that he's up before noon voluntarily, he smiles again, leaning over Maura and gently calling for her to wake up.  
  
Wakes, pretending as though she had been asleep forever, she smiles sleepily at TK. "Wow, I hadn't expected this!" Sitting up in her bed...now wearing nothing but a white silken nightgown, as she had always worn while sleeping, she looks at him pleasantly.  
  
He grins, although feeling rather awkward. Walking over to the other side of the bed once more, he displays the breakfast with an overdone flourish. "Your breakfast, madam," he announces, barely being able not to crack up, he's obviously enjoying putting on a bit of a show for someone who perhaps isn't used to his usual silliness.  
  
Blushing slightly, she smiles thankfully. "This is wonderful, TK! I had not, at all, expected anything like this!" She repeats herself in awe, not even noticing that he seems to be ready to laugh at himself. Taking the tray eagerly she eats as ladylike as possible, thinking to herself that TK always seemed to be full of unexpected surprises.  
  
Biting his tongue, he eventually stifles the urge to laugh, and sits on a chair nearby, patiently waiting for her to finish. Finishing her meal, she glances at him admirably. "I really hadn't expected it..." she says it yet again, then stands gracefully from her bed. Almost immediately a servant came to take the tray away, and another to make her bed for her.  
  
Standing up as well, he smiles. "Yeah well, you just never can tell can you?" He waits there for a minute, ready to proceed to the training room, when he suddenly realizes that she's not dressed yet. His face turning quite red, he hastily excuses himself from the room. "I'll just-uh, be um, outside." He stutters, before using the last of his composure to keep himself from bolting to the door. Once out of the room and having closed the door behind him once more, he takes a few paces down the hall, before sinking to the ground. Starting to laugh out loud at the whole scene.  
  
Dressing into legging pants meant for easy movement and a tee-shirt, although it was white as well...as most of her clothing was...she opened her door after pulling up her hair quickly, and smiled at TK as she walked out. "All set for training?" she asks, continuing down the hallway and paying no attention to the fact that he was laughing about something  
  
Getting to his feet again, and doing his best to make his laughter subside he replies cheerfully. "Yep! If I wasn't I don't think I would have wanted to get out of bed this early." He picks up his pace until he's beside her before matching her speed. Nodding silently, she gets into the now familiar training room, and without any word of what she planned to do that morning, she flew up into the air, higher than usual, looking warily down at him, waiting for him to do the same. Closing the door behind him, for it was always closed and locked when they trained, he curiously looks up at her. Without asking her motives however, he takes a deep breath to let himself gather his energy, and flies up until he's hovering at the same height as she is, with only one brief glance down at the floor.  
  
"Well....now we train at a higher height, since you seem to be progressing enough at the lower heights, especially on the ground." Not caring about the fact that she's a large distance from the safety of the ground, she falls into a natural fighting stance, preparing her first attack. Nodding to her explanation, he too gets into a fighting stance, which definitely seems a lot more natural for him now. Waiting for her to attack first, he wonders whether today he'd focus simply on defending, if he'd get to try a few attacks of his own.*  
  
With lightning quick speed, she launches a quick energy blast at him, then suddenly disappears from sight, reappearing abruptly on the opposite side of the room....only to send another blast from that direction. Within moments she's resumed her first position, watching him eagerly. First concentrating on the first blast, he closes his eyes to better maintain his concentration for forming a shield. However, at the sound of the second blast, he turns his head, realizing he'd need to double his efforts. Clearing his mind as best he could, and trying to forget the fact that he could be injured, he turns to the side, thrusting one hand out at each of the blasts. Preparing for their impact, he channels the energy into his arms, creating enough of a shield that the blasts -although threatening to bend his self defenses- are sent off both set of in their opposite directions.  
  
Grinning wildly, she disappears again, reappearing underneath him this time, grabbing a leg and trying to knock him out of the air in that matter.  
  
Opening his eyes quickly, he lets out a slight sound of surprise, before actually letting himself be thrown and performing a flip to alter his course of direction. Further using the momentum of Maura's attack, he delivered his own retaliating attack in shape of a variety of punches.  
  
Blocking each punch, she was about to let out yet another attack when a loud alarm went off, then she sighed, floating down without a word. Looking up gently, she stated simply, "Time to go."  
  
Halting abruptly, he's at first confused by her sudden stop. Descending to the floor as well, TK curiously asks, "Why'd the alarm go off? And, where are we going?" In the midst of his training, he's basically forgotten all about other daily activities such as school.  
  
Giggling strangely, while smiling kindly as she takes his hand and starts leading him toward her front door in preparation for departure to school. "We have school, silly! The alarm was to tell me when it was time to leave!"  
  
Pausing for a moment to register that fact, he joins her in laughing briefly. "Oh, yeah! I guess I'd forgotten about that." Sighing, he adds: "It's too bad really. I mean, we could accomplish so much more training today if we could stay here."  
  
Her eyes light up at the idea. "We could, actually. I can have my grandfather notify the school about our absence. He understands about my training, and knows how important it is to me to do this...It's up to you. After all, school seems so less important when you're training to save the world."  
  
He's clearly taken aback at her statement. "You mean it? I mean, we actually could stay home from school today?" He actually considers for a moment, before nodding appreciatively. "Well, sure! You're right, figuring out why x equals y if you multiply by pi really ends up seeming rather like a waste of time."  
  
She grins happily. "Alright then, if you want you can come to meet my grandfather. I'll just be a moment." She then walks out of the training room, heading for her grandfather's study.  
  
Nodding although she's not facing him he agrees, "Sure! I'd like to meet him." He follows her out of the room, closing the door behind him.  
  
Smiling, seeing that he's catching on to the rules of the "game", she whispers softly, "Shh, he's doing his morning reading at the moment..." An older man is sitting at a table, with a newspaper in front of him...strangely turned upside down. Maura sighs audibly at the sight, having corrected her grandfather enough times. she gently turns the paper right side up, smiling as he exclaims: "AH! Now I can read it!" Laughing slightly, she says calmly "Grandfather, this is TK. I've been training him for a while, and I was wondering if you could call into school for us?  
  
He nods, now attempting to read his paper. "Of course dear...what's this word?" He points to a word about halfway down the page, and when Maura reads it she laughs slightly*  
  
"It's only ten, Grandfather," she says, giving TK a sheepish look.  
  
He grins back at her, and politely greets her Grandfather as well. "Hi, it's nice to meet you."  
  
He, in turn, greets TK abruptly, then adds: "Thank you, Maura..." while shortly after he calls into the school, muttering that they were sick, and when apparently the office assistant wanted to know if they really were, he got upset and said of course then hung up, mumbling, "People these days must be deaf! I told them you were "sick" and they didn't hear me, obviously!"  
  
Laughing slightly and he nods in agreement. "Yeah, deafness seems to be getting more and more common." He briefly wonders what the office assistant must be thinking right now, and his grin broadens.  
  
Speaking hurriedly, she interrupts them: "Thanks Grandfather!" Then she leads TK out of the room, shutting the door softly, whispering, "He's had a hard life, TK. Don't blame him for his.....well...sometimes, i guess you could call it stupidness. She shrugs, clearly not knowing what else to say in that situation.  
  
He shrugs dismissively in response. "Don't worry about it, I don't blame him at all." Pausing, and hoping that she knew him well enough to tell he was joking, he adds, "Besides, he must be rather entertaining sometimes, eh?"  
  
At first she gets a bit defensive of his statement, then looking at him swiftly realizes that he was only joking with her, and forces a laugh. "Yes, I suppose you could say that." Abruptly changing subjects, she walks back to the training room, once again floating high.  
  
Sighing inwardly, he notes that perhaps that wasn't the brightest comment he'd ever made. Following her quick pace, he returns with her to the training room, flying up to her height as soon as he'd closed the door.  
  
Abruptly begins the training, his comment toward her beloved grandfather...her master for years as well...causing her to give him a bit of a harder lesson that day. Throwing several powerful energy blasts at him, mainly due to a new anger and torment arisen inside of her, she did not stop...heedless of how he would handle the new situation, and she just kept on firing blasts at him*  
  
His eyes widening at her quick change of tactic, he responds by a combination of dodging and creating temporary shields. However, the sheer number of blasts was quickly threatening to destroy his defensive movements, and he wonders to himself in a bit of a panic how much longer Maura would continue in this fashion. Without stopping, for she had been trained for such fights, she kept releasing energy blast after energy blast, clearly unaware of what her actions would do to a newly trained fighter.  
  
Realizing to his dismay that she had no intention of ceasing, he calls out to her in the midst of her attack, "Maura? Can you hold back a little? I don't think I can take this much longer!" His words were obviously true, for he was sweating with exhaustion and the fear that she'd come to expect too much of him.  
  
Breathing deeply now, in slight exhaustion due to the several attacks, she blinks dazedly at him. "I'm sorry, TK. I let my anger take the best of me for a moment. I hadn't even thought of what my actions would do..." She looks down a bit sadly. "I guess forgive me, for I didn't realize what i was doing..."  
  
He sighs with relief, glad that'd she'd seem to come around.* "Don't worry about it Maura, I'm fine." He pauses, hovering for a moment. "And, if you were mad at me, I'm sorry as well," he adds in a quieter tone.  
  
In a weak tone, Maura replies, "No...I have to worry. I could have killed you easily, TK! I shouldn't have lost control like that." Shaking her head in dismay, she then smiles halfheartedly. "And I'm not mad at you. You meant nothing, and you've done nothing wrong that I can think of."  
  
Putting a comforting hand on her shoulder he pauses for a moment, letting the adrenaline rush subside from inside both of them. "Well, I guess it's true that it might have been better if you hadn't lost control, but I mean it about trying not to worry about it. I mean, everybody makes mistakes right? And you certainly didn't lose much control 'cause I'm still here." His smile becomes a bit skewered as he realizes he's reverted back to humor already  
  
Maura can't help but laugh a little, smiling wider now. "I guess you're right. Her tone softening, she continues: "Why don't we just take it easy for a bit? I hadn't meant to lose control like that....it isn't like me at all..." She shakes her head gently, smiling still however.  
  
TK nods in acknowledgement. "All right, turning it down a bit after that would probably be a good idea for both of us." Removing his hand from her shoulder, he waits for further indication of what they're going to try next. Taking it easy, she doesn't use much of her own energy, but she resolves in simple, basic fighting techniques high in the air.  
  
He blocks her attacks, along with having his blocked as well. Only having to revert to dodging a few times, he suddenly realizes what a change he's gone through in fighting experience already.  
  
Several hours later she finally calls them to a stop, floating down slowly, asking unsurely, "I have a technique...my father taught it to me...for relaxing the mind and body after a fight or training. It's quite simple and I'm sure you've heard of it before, but it would be good to try, especially after..." she looks down, "today."  
  
Smiling encouragingly he floats down as well. "Of course I'd like to try it." He's careful to not let on outwardly that although he was serious about not wanting Maura to worry the 'incident', at the time, he was actually a little wary of her. Only due to the great mass of energy that had been coming from her while she was attacking.  
  
Nodding, she sits Indian-style on the mats, looking at him seriously. "All you do is lie down comfortably with your head in my lap. You'll see what I'm doing after, and it will relax everything within you...it's put me to sleep several times, truthfully."  
  
Although he was slightly skeptical about what her method involved, he quickly nods. "All right." He complies by seating himself on the mats in front of her, before leaning back with his head in her lap. Quickly, he closes his eyes, both in guessing it will help with the process, and from slight embarrassment.  
  
Smiling gently, she uses her two forefingers to start massaging his temples, hoping it would soothe both of them as much as it had done her in the past. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he soon finds himself much more at peace then he had been merely a few minutes ago. In fact, he notes to himself that he'll probably end up falling asleep soon. Keeping it up as long as she can, she's glad to see that it was working. She, too, was relieving herself of the rest of her anger that had been building up inside of her at this action, calming her mind slowly. Leaning gently forward, still massaging, she whispered, "Is this okay?"  
  
Just as he had suspected, he soon finds himself drifting off. Barely conscious enough to hear her last comment, he quietly responds, "Mmm-hmm... It's okay..."  
  
Smiling gently, she says softly: "I'm glad." Massaging slightly harder now, though not enough for it to be painful, she falls silent, noticing that he's nearly asleep.  
  
He smiles as well, his eyes still closed as he adds one more comment before falling asleep. "Maura? Thanks..." Although he perhaps hadn't revealed it much until now, he was truly grateful for everything that she had helped him with.  
  
"You're welcome," she responds in a soft tone, and massages for some more time, watching his face peacefully, making sure that he was sound asleep before stirring at all. His breathing now becoming deeper and more drawn out, he was clearly asleep. And, also experiencing a very restful dreamless sleep, which was fortunate, for the many hours of training had definitely seemed to last a very long time.  
  
Smiling wistfully down at him, she gently slides out from underneath his head, and without caring much she curls up next to him, herself quickly becoming submersed into her own dreams, truly happy for the first time in a while.  
  
-----Later on that Day-----  
  
Maura remains still peacefully asleep beside him, not really caring at the moment to wake at all. Opening his eyes slowly, he has a bit of trouble remembering where he was at first. Seeing Maura resting next to him, he smiles in recognition of how he had ending up on the floor. Raising himself to a sitting position, he yawns, contemplating whether he should wake her up or not.  
  
Hearing his yawn, she stirs a bit but doesn't get up, only continues to dream in relaxation, not having had much sleep lately. Deciding to first get something to eat, and bring something back for Maura, he gets up and walks over to the door stretching. Upon turning the handle, he notices that the door was not locked that time, and sheepishly remembers that it was he himself who had closed it and forgotten. Padding quietly down the empty hallway, he makes his way to the kitchen, gathering an armful of snack time goodies.  
  
Remaining asleep, she hardly notices his departure, her exhaustion, in part due to her emotions, filling every space in her mind, leaving nothing available for anything else at the second.  
  
Being careful not to wake her, he returns and, directly upon dumping the food onto the mats rather unceremoniously, proceeds to basically stuff his face in response to his loudly growling stomach.  
  
Sleeping yet, she begins to dream...not of anything normal, but a scene with the death of her parents haunts her nightmares. as she walking through the digital world in her mind, she cries out lightly as she spies her parents tied up, and utters a low moan, "Not again...mother...father...." and whimpers slightly in fear, sounding rather childish in her tone.  
  
Abruptly ceasing his chowing down, he looks at her sympathetically for a second, before crawling over to sit next to her. Pausing for a moment in hesitation, he runs a hand through her hair, trying to soothe her without disrupting her sleep.  
  
Gently her eyes open sleepily at the feel of someone touching her, but knowing that the door had been locked she assumed it was TK, and looks at him briefly in surprise. His face acquiring a pink tinge, he smiles down at her. "Hi, are you all right?" He doesn't comment on why he ended up in such a position, reasoning that if her dream had been forgotten, it would be best to let it stay that way.  
  
She nods gently, sitting up wearily. `Yes, it was nothing, really. Thanks though...I guess." She looks down nervously, a bit awkward.  
  
He stands up and walks back to where he was sitting to eat and shrugs. "It's no problem..."He searches for something else to say for a moment before remembering the food he brought. "Are you hungry at all? I went to get some food."  
  
Grinning now, she looks slightly happier. "Just a bit, then we should probably try training again, unless you think it's enough for today." She tilts her head towards him curiously.  
  
Now being both rested and fed, TK grins. "Actually, I'm up for some more training. This break really woke me up." Indicating the small pile of goodies he had brought with one hand he offers, "You can have the rest if you want, I've already eaten."  
  
Accepting them gratefully, she eats them with a rapid eagerness, then smiling, announces, "Alright then, training begins I suppose! This time I'll allow you to make the first move..."  
  
Grinning back at her, and getting to his feet, TK flies up to their previous height. "All right then, as long as you think you can handle it!" He laughs at the absurdness of his own statement. Laughing pleasantly, she joins him, waiting for his attack, ready for anything. Katie also miraculously falls out of another tree and twitches.  
  
Taking a couple deep breaths, he gathers his energy and launches himself at Maura with a yell, swinging a round kick at her side while preparing to begin punching. Maura blocks his attacks with great ease, but almost as she's moving to hit him again, she senses that someone's energy level decreases precipitately. Getting a nervous frown on her face, she quickly leaves the training room...heading for her grandfather's study without a word of explanation.  
  
In hearing them inside, Katie knocks, but with no answer, she tests the doorknob, its open and she steps inside just in time to see her hit him. She gapes, looking from her to him. Walking past Katie without a care, Maura heads rapidly to her grandfather's study, and sees him...lying deathly still in his chair, a look of panic falling on her face. Upon her entrance, he loses his concentration and regains it just before he falls to the ground, floating down the last few feet slowly. Looking at TK in confusion, Katie asks, "Where'd she go?"  
  
Biting his lip, TK replies: "I don't know."  
  
Katie asks softly: "Are you..."  
  
Wondering what she's talking about, TK says warily, "Are we, what?" He walks over to her.  
  
Kneeling beside her grandfather, she lets out a slow moan of despair. "No...Grandfather...please tell me...it's not happening..." She holds his hand warily, feeling it to be cold.  
  
Quietly Katie replies, "Going out or something?"  
  
Maura's grandfather stirs and looks down at her with glazed eyes full of death. "Maura...it's my time...I'm leaving..."  
  
Clearly he wasn't expecting that and he hesitates before answering nervously, "No! It's not like that at all..." and wondering why Maura had left in such a hurry.  
  
Getting a sad look on her face, Maura hears her grandfather speak again. "Get that young boy you're training. I must have a word with him..." and here he pauses to cough weakly, "before i go..."  
  
Katie hides a sigh or relief, and turning she suggests,  
"Let's go find her."  
  
Nodding obediently, she walks quickly back to the training room, and in seeing TK, orders rather harshly, "TK, my grandfather wishes to speak with you.."  
  
Plainly confused, he nods. "All right, take me to him..."  
  
Now left alone, Katie sighs. "Well that's polite..."  
  
Walking at a quick pace, Maura gets back to the study and hopes that they follow, and upon entering, she sees her grandfather's near death state once again, and it's all she can do to keep from crying. With a sharp intake of breath, he suddenly realizes that the situation is quite serious, and tries to remain calm as he walks over and quietly asks, "Sir, you wanted to see me?"  
  
"Yes. I am leaving...my time has come to move on to another world. It is not a sad moment, though I fear that my Maura will take it hard. She will be alone in the world without me, you understand? You, apparently, are her only friend...all that she will have left. I only ask that you do well to take care of my granddaughter...it's my last request..." her grandfather responds, then coughs weakly, his voice fading at the end. Katie had followed them and now she pauses in the doorway, and realizing what was happening, remains silent.  
  
Doing his best to hold back a flood of emotions, he nods solemnly, responding, "I'll take care of Maura as best I can, and follow your wish as thoroughly as possible. I promise." He swallows, amazed at what had just happened.  
  
Her grandfather states softly, his voice nearly gone, "Thank you...and farewell..." Slowly his breathing decreases in speed, and within moments it stops all together. Almost as though they had expected it to happen, servants came to carry the body away without question. He stands there, unable to move or speak for a while, contemplating what he'd just been asked. And nods to himself in acknowledgement of Maura's grandfather's wish.  
  
Watching as the body is carried past her, Katie whispers quietly, "Maura... I'm so sorry..."  
  
Smiling weakly, trying to make the best of things, Maura responds with a proud air, "I'll be fine...we all expected it...", but despite her words she was unable to hold back her tears anymore, and collapses to the floor, crying gently in misery.  
  
Turning to look at both of them, still not being able to express his thoughts in words. And, seeing his first opportunity to help Maura, he rushes over and sits by her, actually holding her close to try and comfort her. He looks up at Katie with a confused expression on his face.  
  
Unsure of what to do, Katie mouths- "I don't know..."  
  
Maura cries for a bit more, then almost dutifully she brushes her tears away, taking a deep breath. "I I'm sorry. I'll be fine, really...you don't have to worry about me..."  
  
Biting her lip, Katie states: "We will anyway. You're our friend."  
  
Letting her go, he repeats a phrase Maura had used that day herself. "But I have to worry..."  
  
Smiling softly, she nods. "It'll be fine." Looking away from them, she mutters, "You should probably tell your parents where you've been for the past few days, TK, and Katie...you're welcome to stay as well."  
  
Katie was sitting in the floor next to them. "I would, but I don't really think they care...or would have cared for that matter..." She now looks down.  
  
Looking at Katie in surprise, he realizes that right now it seems odd that both of his parents are actually still alive, and shivers slightly.  
  
Maura, sighing, explains: "Because we're still not through with TK's training...and perhaps Katie would care for a few lessons of her own?" She looks over at them with a now serious, determined look.  
  
Nodding eagerly, TK says: "Yeah Katie, you should train as well, it's really useful."  
  
Katie looks up at her. "If you have forgotten, I haven't got a clue to what your talking about... all I know is that it's VERY secretive..."  
  
Scratching his head sheepishly, TK responds, "Yeah, I would have told you if I could..."  
  
Maura smiles gently. "It's fighting training, a very special kind. My..." Here she almost chokes as tears threaten to come, "My grandfather taught me most of what I know...and if you wish to defeat your enemies, it's possibly the only way to do so."  
  
Suggestively, Katie remarks, "Or we could just give in and let the twits rule the world...but honestly, I'd prefer to beat them."  
  
TK grins at Katie. "Yeah, me too." Thinking that it will be great to finally have an advantage over Kerry after so long.  
  
Getting a newly determined look on her face, she stands abruptly, and nods. "Very well, then. I will begin Katie's training, now if you'd like."  
  
Katie looks at her from the floor. "Sure, i guess..." She now looks at TK, having a good idea of his revenge on Kerry, grins in a low whisper, "I'd like to hurt Izumi just as much..." Meeting her gaze he nods, laughing on the inside*  
  
Grinning, Maura walks into the training room, whispering to TK, "And you can help me show her what this style of fighting is all about."  
  
TK smiles back at her. "Certainly."  
  
Katie sits against the wall. "So... show me."  
  
Looking at Katie eagerly, Maura tells her. "Of course." With great ease she floats up into the sky until she's hovering about 10 ft off the ground.  
  
Katie looks up in shock. "Whoa." Following her lead, TK flies up to her level, getting into a fighting stance, before grinning down at Katie with a smug wave. Nearly laughing, Maura also gets in a fighting stance, nodding to TK, indicating for him to start the "show". Muttering in confusion, Katie says: "What the hell...crap!" Nodding in response, TK starting off with a yell and a series of fast punches.  
  
Blocking them with such a great speed that it's hardly noticeable, then, getting a wild grin on her face, she disappears suddenly, purposefully zooming about the room faster than the speed of light, in attempts to show Katie what she truly could do. Katie watches with her mouth open and now wishes she hadn't 'gotten off on the wrong foot' with Maura. TK stands still, waiting for a sign of where she was, rather than trying to just find her on his own.  
  
Reappears behind TK, and after several moments, she shoots a powerful energy beam from her cupped hands, her eyes glinting eagerly in anticipation for the come back. Spinning quickly, he crosses his arms in front of him, closing his eyes to gather his energy and forming a temporary shield to protect himself from the blast. Nodding in approval, she waves her hand to call them to a halt, floating back down in front of Katie. "And that...Katie...was just the basics. TK has yet a lot to learn, and you have it all to learn if you want."  
  
Clueless, Katie asks, "Can I fly too?"  
  
Maura smiles gently. "Of course, it's relatively simple to actually do the flying. I'll teach you." TK floats down as well, grinning happily. However, he wrecks his small moment of showing off, by losing his concentration before descending the last two feet to the floor, and lets a cry of surprise as he stumbles and regains his balance once more with a sheepish grin.  
  
Katie giggles, adding: "Ok, I'll give it a try."  
  
Maura grins back. "It's pretty easy, as I said. Just focus on something within you...that would be an energy found within your body, and bring that out. Use that to push you off the ground. Understand?" TK decides to sit comfortably on the mats and he wonders how long until they eat again.  
  
Katie asks, "And energy? like...what?"  
  
Maura sighs, trying to explain, realizing that it was easier to teach TK flying for some reason. "It's just something that you find inside of you."  
  
TK stands up and stretches. "It's easy Katie! Like this!" After focusing, he's quickly hovering in the air, and grins broadly.  
  
Katie burrows her brow, and closes her eyes to think. Maura nods eagerly. "Yea, that's pretty much it," and she waits silently for the results.  
  
"I have energy...but i dunno what you mean," Katie grumbles. TK floats back to the ground, frowning as his stomach growls.  
  
Maura sighs and without warning launches a huge energy blast from her cupped hands directly at Katie, hoping that she'll realize what it is...and either do it quickly or be scared into flying. Katie rolls out of the way, crying: "holy shit! What the hell are you trying to do!"  
  
"Trying to get you in the air that's what!" Maura shouts back. TK laughs, unable to resist it. "The first step is flying. If you can't master that you'll never get the rest of it."  
  
Katie's pupils dialate, and she says abruptly: "I'm trying, geesh!"  
  
Maura sighs, waiting. "Well keep trying. We're not moving from here until you're in the air."  
  
Katie glances at TK sheepishly. "Sorry."  
  
TK holds back a moan, uttering: "It's all right..."  
  
Maura smiles gently. "Try just focusing on something inside of you...a single thought, or heartbeat or something...relax yourself. That might work." Katie thinks of a big yellow dot on a black background and giggles, while Maura frowns impatiently.  
  
"Got it," Katie states.  
  
Maura nods. "Now try finding energy within that object, and just bring it out!" She sits down, waiting for her to get the hang of flying. Katie concentrates on it, hovering a few inches* Maura's eyes widen briefly, nodding in approval, however, she's careful not to say anything at first*  
  
Katie opens her eyes a bit. "Am I doing it?"  
  
Maura nods happily. "Perfectly for a first time!"  
  
Katie squees, falling out of it, tumbling onto the floor* "Ow..."  
  
Maura grins eagerly. "That's just the basics! Ready for more?" She tilts her head curiously. "Well?"  
  
Katie pauses. "I guess."  
  
"Okay then! Do you know any fighting styles of your own?" She looks at her warily, hoping that she at least knows the basic fighting moves.  
  
Katie grins. "I'm a cheerleader, you tell me."  
  
Maura smiles back. "Well, let's see!" She crosses her arms in anticipation.  
  
Katie gapes. "In other words, I know nothing..."  
  
Now Maura sighs. "Oh dear.....from the very beginning...at least TK knew something about it. Ah well...this is a fighting stance. Copy what I do." She falls into a fighting stance by bending her knees slightly, putting her fists up in front of her protectively. Katie obeys, copying her. Maura shows her the basic punches, then nods. "You try."  
  
Katie punches the air. Maura gives her a smile. "Weak....but good enough. Alright, hit me!" Katie punches at her now, trying to strike Maura. Maura blocks her attacks, grasping her wrist and twisting it sideways, bringing her to her knees.  
  
Moaning painfully, Katie shrieks now: "Leggo leggo leggo!  
  
Maura laughs, letting go, standing next to her. "Not quick or strong enough...you think your enemies will show you mercy?!!"  
  
"Have they EVER shown me mercy?" She pants on the floor*  
  
Maura shakes her head, although the question may not have been directed towards her. "No. So attack me as though I were your enemy."  
  
"I wouldn't be stupid enough to attack!" She looks up at her. "It's all about the cooperation!"  
  
Maura laughs. "How do you think TK got as far as he got? He attacked me first! It's up to you to do the same, and it's the only way."  
  
Katie frowns, then she spins on her back, hitting Maura in the back of the knee with her heel. Almost falling to the floor because of the attack, she flies up rapidly, looking down, pleased. "Good. That's more like it. Now...again." She floats back down*  
  
Standing up, Katie mutters angrily, "I WILL get you..."  
  
"Good, good, I'm glad to hear that news. TK did, so of course you can manage it!"  
  
Mumbling, Katie admits: "If TK did, then i can too..." she uses the heel of her hand to come at Maura, making sure not to extend her arm all the way for risk of it locking.  
  
Grinning, Maura gives her no mercy, swinging a round kick at her side after ducking her attack. Katie gets hit, but remains standing, having the air knocked out of her. She kicks at Maura with a pivot. Maura has a wide grin on her face, truly not having expected such a kick from a complete beginner, she gets knocked down, standing quickly after she falls. "Well done...very well done..." she wipes sweat from her brow. "Ready for a break?"  
  
Katie, nodding, replies: "Sure." Taking a seat, Maura tosses a bottled water to Katie, and taking one of her own. Katie catches it easily. "Thanks!" She collapses on the ground thankfully and feels the pain in her side.  
  
Maura sighs in dismay, seeing her weariness. "That wasn't a workout, mind you."  
  
"No, but I'm a loser!"  
  
Laughing, Maura comments, speaking truly, "You're a beginner, that's all. You just need practice!"  
  
Katie, adding glumly: "And a lot of training..."  
  
"Which is why i'm here, and TK can help you too. Don't worry soon you'll be flying through the air," Maura reassures, smiling gently back.  
  
Katie giggles, remarking: "If TK can help, then okie!" She grins.  
  
That's all we have for right now, and thank you for reading. Please review once you've read through this whole think, or you can e-mail any of us at:  
  
Katie St. Clair- [1]pretty_kitty_003@hotmail.com  
  
Lauren Childerhose- [2]Gohan_the_Saiyan@hotmail.com  
  
Jamie Belisle- [3]IzzyIzumi2004@hotmail.com  
  
Also, if you care to join Digichat and Company, please visit this website first to see our guild.  
  
[4]http://www.neopets.com/guilds/guild?oid=pretty_kitty_003  
  
To learn more about Digichat, or if you have questions, feel free to contact any of us at any time. Thank you, and we appreciate your patronage.  
  
THAT'S ALL FOLKS!  
  
(Bloopers soon to be added, a must read....they're hilarious)  
  
References  
  
1. mailto:pretty_kitty_003@hotmail.com  
2. mailto:Gohan_the_Saiyan@hotmail.com  
3. mailto:IzzyIzumi2004@hotmail.com  
4. http://www.neopets.com/guilds/guild?oid=pretty_kitty_003 


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